Shepard saved Thane. Now it's his turn to save Shepard from the madness that threatens to consume her. The act she has kept up for years is cracking under the stress. How will the galaxy react when they see who their hero really is? Set in ME3. TXFemS

She held back tears as she read from the prayer book, even more so when she finished and watched his head turn to the side. She knew why. Thane didn't want her to have to see him die, and, perhaps, he was holding back tears too. She moved to the bed and reached to turn his face back, to tell him that she loved him, for the first and the last time, but she caught a glimpse of his eyes, could see no life left in them. She couldn't do it. She couldn't look into the face of the man she loved and see… nothing.

"Goodbye… Thane…" she said and stepped back, holding back the tears as they filled her eyes. "Kolyat… Why did the last verse say she?"

"The prayer wasn't for him, he had already made his peace. His last wish was for you." he replied, sadness in his voice for the father he had barely gotten to know.

"Thank you…" she said before she turned and left hastily. She got to the elevator door before the tears started to fall and the sobs shook her shoulders. She looked back down the hall. It was crowded, but there were few doctors and no guards. She bit her lip for a second and wiped her eyes before storming her way back through the crowd. She opened the door and Kolyat looked at her surprised. She went past him to Thane's body and unhooked the useless IV.

"What are you doing?" Kolyat asked and tried to stop her.

She swatted his hand away, fire in her eyes she stared at him and side, "I'm not going to sit by while the man I love, your father, leaves me alone in this hellhole." The words were harsher than she meant, but oh did she mean them. "Grab his legs and move, if you don't keep up I swear I will shoot you." she said and grabbed Thane by hooking her arm in his armpits.

Kolyat was taken back and did as she said and they started carrying Thane's limp form out of the room and through the hospital. Doctors tried to stop them, but she kicked them back whenever they got close. With mind difficulty they made it to the elevator before any guards showed up.

Shepard hit the pad to tell it to go to the loading dock and they set Thane down for a moment, both out of breath.

"What are you doing?" Kolyat demanded.

She looked down at Thane and slid his eyes closed, not being able to look at that absent gaze. "I have some of the best doctors, biotic engineers, and damn determined people on my ship." she answered and looked up at him. "We are going to get him on my ship, we are going to get him to a planet with more drell blood, and we are going to bring him back to me." It sounded selfish, hell it was selfish, making him come back to life only to die later from Kepral's Syndrome. She had spent the past years of her life trying to save the universe, she was due to be selfish this once.

When the elevator opened they already had Thane lifted up, Kolyat now completely on board with the plan, and moved him through the security checks while before the guards did anything to stop them. And once they did react Kolyat switched his father's legs to one arm and grabbed the gun of the nearest guard and held them off with it. Not for long, but long enough to get into the Normandy's air lock.

"Joker, move this ship now. Garrus, come to the airlock." she shouted and knew they would hear. "When Garrus gets here take him down to Chakwas, then get Tali, she isn't a medic, but her tech skills will help." she ordered Kolyat before leaving to the bridge.

Joker had done as she said and moved the ship out of the Citadel's orbit. "What is going on?" he asked.

She ignored him, "EDI, plot a course to the nearest planet with the most drell blood of Thane's blood type." she ordered and EDI popped on a second later with the results, it was Illium. If she wasn't so panicked and in a hurry she could have laughed at that, the place she met Thane was the place she was trying to save him at. "What are you waiting for?" she snapped at Joker, "Fly."

"Oh man, you are going to try and bring him back to life, aren't you?" he asked, but did as she asked. "Necrophilia moment, Shepard, it's kinda creepy." That got him smacked.

"Shepard, Thane has a heartbeat, but it is weak, he most likely only has twenty minutes, even with all the help." EDI informed her.

"Thank you, EDI." she said and pushed on Joker's shoulder. "You hear that, that means I want us there in ten minutes, now fly, damn it."

"Ten minutes to travel to that far?" Joker asked, but retracted his question from the glare he received. "Will do, Commander."

It took twelve minutes, but it was good time so she didn't hound Joker for it, besides she had more important things to do. She ran to Illium's hospital. "Give me… all your drell B blood." she panted at the counter. The nurse looked at her like she was crazy. "Damn it, I have a drell on my ship who is dying." She slammed her fist down on the counter. She looked down and her hair covered her eyes, a few tears dropped on to the counter. "Please… I love him… and he is dying… please… help me save him…" she begged, her voice shaking.

The nurse moved and went to talk to a doctor. It gathered a bit of a crowded and thankfully one of them recognized her.

"Commander Shepard," the head of the hospital said and came over to her. "Of course we will help." he answered her prayers and her and the top three doctors they had rushed back to her ship with a cooler of the blood and the medical supplies.

Franticly she looked at her watch. It had been eighteen minutes. 'Please… don't leave me, Thane.' she begged. 'Please don't take him… not yet.'

The crew had cleared a path for her as she and the three doctors rushed in and down the elevator. When they made it into the medic room it was just over twenty minutes. They all turned and looked at her, Chakwas, Garrus, Tali, Kaidan, James, everyone, on her team. They all looked at her sadly.

"No… no…" she said and ran to Thane, but already knew his heart had stopped. "Bring him back." she yelled at Chakwas, and then looked to the blood on her hands. "What did you do to him." she ordered and looked back to Thane. There was an incision across his chest that had been very recently been stitched.

"With Tali's help I replaced the infected part of his lungs with biotics." she answered calmly. "But while I was doing it his heart stopped."

She looked back to the doctors. "Get that IV in him." she ordered and they listened, despite knowing it would hopeless. While they gave him the transfusions she pumped his chest to simulate his heartbeat and keep his organs alive. Some of the stitches broke, but she didn't stop.

Everyone watched with baited breath. They all knew that Shepard loved Thane, and with her working so hard to save, well, everyone, it was the least they could do to show their support. When the line that signaled his heartbeat started going on his own they all cheered.

Shepard started to cry, the first time most of them had seen her cry, or any emotion that let on to weakness. She was human, and they were just noticing how much now. Garrus came up and put a hand on her shoulder and she hugged him, crying into his armored chest.

When she had control over herself she turned to Chakwas. "These implants, they will stop the disease?" she asked, allowing herself to hope.

"Yes, they will allow him to be able to fight the bacteria." she replied.

"How… Why didn't you do it sooner?" Shepard asked.

"It was life threatening and it wasn't our design, we found it in Medin's files, he had been working hard to finish it, it wasn't done, but we managed to fill in the gaps." Tali replied and Shepard hugged her tight.

"Thank you…" she said before she completely regained herself and stood up straight to address her crew. "Thank you all for your support, now get back to work!" she ordered with a smile and they all gladly did. Once only Dr. Chakwas was left she sat down on the edge of Thane's examination table and stroked the side of his face.

Kolyat approached her and hugged her. "Thank you… for saving my father." he told her and together they looked down at the man both loved.

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